QINETIQ ALPHA JET

A dozen former German Air Force Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet A jet training and light attack aircraft were purchased by QinetiQ in the late 1990s as successors to Hawks that were required to re-join the RAF training fleet. Six have been operated as part of the QinetiQ inventory, not least as part of the Empire Test Pilots' School, augmenting the remaining Boscombe Down-based Hawks. The Alpha Jet, developed originally by French manufacturer Dassault-Breguet and West German firm Dornier, first took to the air in 1973. It remains in service with several air arms, other ex-Luftwaffe examples having gone to Portugal and Thailand, and is the mount of the French Air Force's Patrouille de France aerobatic team.